


the noblest work is to cultivate the soul

by TheTinyTortoise



Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials Fusion, F/F, F/M, Implied Relationships, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, The Untamed (TV) Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24413989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTinyTortoise/pseuds/TheTinyTortoise
Summary: We all know spirits come back, but what about their souls?A series of peeks at the daemons of the greatest cultivators of the Five Great Sects (and a few others who fell between the cracks)
Relationships: Bàoshān Sànrén/Lán Yì, Jiāng Fēngmián/Yú Zǐyuān, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Sòng Lán | Sòng Zǐchēn/Xiǎo Xīngchén
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. she needed wide open spaces (Cangse Sanren)

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters will be short, but (fingers crossed) there will be a lot of them!

Cangse Sanren has a little fox with sandy fur and wide, curious eyes. He’s small enough to sit comfortably in her cupped hands. The only big thing about him is his ears, which remain pricked at any given moment. He can be relied upon to poke his nose into any matter that garners his interest, regardless of whether it pertains to him or not, and little evades the reach of those enormous ears for very long. 

There are few places within Baoshan Sanren’s domain that do not bear the imprint of his small paws. Baoshan Sanren should have known better than to think that her abode would be able to satisfy that voracious curiosity for long. But oh, had she hoped.

She can only pray that his ever-listening ears will not lead him and Cangse into trouble when they vanish down the mountain in search of a greater world to explore. But some things, as she has learned all too well, are just inevitable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cangse Sanren’s daemon is named Xi Zheng and he is a fennec fox! He looks something like this: https://www.allcreaturespod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Fen-Fox.jpg


	2. go slowly, my lovely moon (Xiao Xingchen)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the first chapter where I reference how daemons are referred to in this daemon!AU of the MDZS universe. I based my concept of how the characters of this AU think about daemons on the idea of a dual soul in Chinese philosophy and religion (though please take everything I say with a grain of salt because I am by no means an expert on the subject!) According to some traditions, every human has two souls: the hun soul, which is a more spiritual soul that leaves the body when a person dies, and the po soul, which is more corporeal and stays with the body when a person dies. In this AU, the hun is thought to live within the body and is linked with a cultivator’s golden core. The po is thought to live outside the body and takes an animal form.
> 
> Hopefully this explanation makes sense! Here’s a link for if you would like more information on the idea of hun and po (I know, I know, Wikipedia isn’t a credible source, but I double-checked all of the information using more reputable sites and the Wikipedia article is the most concise one I could find): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hun_and_po

Xiao Xingchen, raised apart from a world which puts so much emphasis on outward beauty, has never noticed any particular loveliness about his _po’s_ form. To him, his Hao Yue is a simple goose, nothing more, nothing less. Her form has its merits, certainly, but her appearance is not something he even pauses to consider.

Other eyes, however, are hardly so blindered. To many, the curve of Hao Yue’s long neck is effortless in its elegance, and her eyes resemble polished chips of obsidian. Song Lan has always admired her feathers the most. Where Xiao Xingchen has only ever seen plain white down that tends to attract mud, Song Lan likes nothing more than to compare the pale gleam of Hao Yue’s feathers to the pearly glow of the moon.

Song Lan’s words are what Xiao Xingchen remembers when his world goes dark and Song Lan is no longer around to tell him so in person. In his mind’s eye, Hao Yue’s plumage is just as ivory white as it was the day Song Lan left him.

A-Qing doesn’t have the heart to tell him that with every poor villager Xiao Xingchen kills in the name of justice, the snowy white of Hao Yue’s feathers fades into a dingy gray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hao Yue is a snow goose. She looks something like this: https://animals.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Snow-Goose-2-650x425.jpg


	3. dancing away with my heart (Lan Wangji)

There are whispers when Zhen Mei settles.

She’s poised and elegant, like the _po_ of a son of the Lan Clan should be. She’s a bird of still and calm waters, like the _po_ of Lan Wangji’s brother and uncle before her. The elders can find no outward fault in her, and, in public at least, dare anyone else to try.

But in private, even they can’t help but wonder:

_How can a man as solitary and somber as Lan Wangji have a soul in the form of a bird so renowned for such a passionate and devoted courtship?_

The boldest of all even dare to whisper:

_Is he destined to end up like his father, who gave up everything for his foolish desires?_

Lan Qiren vows to keep his nephew on the right path, and, save a few discrepancies that are undoubtedly the fault of that Wei delinquent, he keeps his word. The elders are pleased.

And if they happen to hear the mournful strains of half a duet coming from the Jingshi every night….well, they close their ears to it and thank their ancestors that the Yiling Patriarch seems to be gone for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zhen Mei is a red-crowned crane and she looks something like this: https://pin.it/5h8qL8r  
> Red-crowned cranes are famous for their beautiful mating displays. They do a whole dance and even sing a little! While I was writing this, I just pictured Lan Wangji playing Inquiry and Zhen Mei doing her half of the display but never getting an answer....


	4. ‘cause maybe then you’d want me just as much (Yu Ziyuan)

Meng Hu’s settled form is perfect for a cultivator’s _po_.

His body is protected by an armor of thick scales, and his teeth are sharp and plentiful. The lash of his long tail is powerful enough to sweep a grown man from his feet. His legs are capable of propelling him across solid land and churning waters alike.

He’s fierce and deadly and Yu Ziyuan burns with pride for him.

But then she becomes Jiang Fengmian’s bride and realizes that the kind of _po_ that is perfect for a cultivator is not the kind of _po_ that is appropriate for a wife.

When Jiang Fengmian looks at Meng Hu, she can see the disappointment in his eyes. His quiet resentment makes Yu Ziyuan want to scream. It’s not _her_ fault that Meng Hu doesn’t have tiny paws or sandy fur or a fluffy tail or ridiculous pointed ears-!

In the early years of their marriage, she hates Jiang Fengmian for his silent longing for Meng Hu to be something else.

It’s only later that she comes to hate him for making her wish that, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meng Hu is a spectacled caiman and he looks something like this: https://pin.it/34zky4k


	5. time marches on (Baoshan Sanren)

Baoshan Sanren has a giant tortoise.

He doesn’t move much, anymore. He’s more than content to doze the days away in the sun, though it would be a mistake to think that he’s ignorant of what’s going on around him. Many, many disciples over the years have made the mistake of getting into mischief under his watchful eye. They never seem to notice that the old, mossy boulder nearby is watching their every move with some amusement.

Once, he travelled the world by Baoshan Sanren’s side. When she tired of walking, she rode on his back. He was quite fond of Lan Yi’s hare, and it was not unusual to see the hare darting around him in circles whenever they ventured into Gusu. By the end of their travels, there wasn’t a corner of the world that his steady feet hadn’t ventured to.

But he’s tired now. Lan Yi’s hare is nothing more than Dust, and he’s seen three of his most beloved disciples go to their deaths. The years roll on and on, and he watches history repeat itself over and over. Neither acting nor refusing to act seems to make any difference.

So, these days, he’s happy to sit in the sun and watch. He’ll let those that are still young engage in their futile campaigns against fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baoshan Sanren’s daemon is named Xuan Shi and he is a Galápagos tortoise. He looks something like this: https://www.lapintagalapagoscruise.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/giant-tortoise-reserve-santa-cruz-island-galapagos-islands.jpg


	6. before you came into my life i missed you so (Song Lan)

It takes a long time for Yu Yan to settle.

Song Lan is not the anxious sort, but even he can’t help but worry as the years pass and Yu Yan comes no closer to settling. He watches the  _ po _ of disciples far younger than him find their preferred shapes and wonders what is so wrong with him.

All Song Lan can do to quell his fears is to approach his master, as he always does when there is something weighing on his mind.

“You are young yet, Song Lan,” the master of Baixue Temple says, indulgent. He smiles when he sees Song Lan frown, displeased with this answer. After all, no young man likes to be reminded of his youth and inexperience.

“Perhaps she is looking for something that she has not yet found,” he suggests, patting Song Lan’s shoulder.

“I need to finish my training,” Song Lan frowns. “I don’t have time to go searching for something that may or may not exist.”

His master raises an eyebrow. “I have nothing left to teach you,” he says. “All that you still need to know can only be taught through experience. Perhaps a journey is exactly what you need.”

Song Lan leaves three days later.

He enjoys his travels, enjoys using the skills he’s worked so hard to hone to help people. But as the months go by, his frustration only builds as Yu Yan continues to cycle through shapes. His hopes rise whenever she lingers in a particular shape, but they are always eventually dashed when she ultimately discards it for a new one.

She has been wearing the shape of a large bird of prey for almost a week when they encounter an unfamiliar cultivator wearing white. When Yu Yan sets eyes on him and his goose  _ po _ , she shivers all over. Her form flickers and changes in an instant.

“Are you alright?” Song Lan asks. He has never seen her take this form before, but he can’t deny that it suits her. She’s in the shape of a large dog with pointed ears and a dark, reddish coat. His hand falls to rest on the crown of her head as if he’s done it a million times before.

“I think so,” Yu Yan replies. She gives her tail an experimental wag. 

The cultivator in white helps them to defeat a particularly stubborn resentful spirit. His fighting style meshes seamlessly with Song Lan’s own, and Yu Yan takes a shine to his snow goose. It only makes sense for them to begin traveling together, since they seem to be so well-matched. They set out together, and Song Lan feels a contentment that he hasn’t experienced since he left Baixue Temple.

  
And though it takes some time for Song Lan to notice, Yu Yan never changes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yu Yan is a Belgian Malinois and she looks something like this: https://pin.it/1BHhW5a


	7. on your belly you shall go all the days of your life (Meng Yao)

Before he throws Meng Yao down the stairs, Jin Guangshan laughs at him.

“How could you ever expect to be recognized as a Jin with a _po_ like that?” He sneers, stroking the breast feathers of his own _po_. “Jin _po_ belong to the sky. Yours belongs to the dirt.”

He plants his foot in Meng Yao’s chest and shoves.

Ze Xian is thrown from Meng Yao’s arm as he rolls down the stairs. When he lands in a crumpled heap at the very foot of them, he reaches for her, but she’s too far. He can only watch, wheezing for air, as one of the many Jin guards steps forward and glances up at Jin Guangshan.

Jin Guangshan’ head dips in a nod, and the guard’s boot comes down on Ze Xian’s spine.

She screams, and though Meng Yao bites down on his lower lip until he draws blood, he can’t stop himself from screaming with her.

Jin Guangshan waves his hand, and the guard removes his foot. He smirks as Ze Xian writhes across the ground towards Meng Yao, shaking with sobs.

“Let this be a warning to you,” he says as Meng Yao gathers her up, letting her coil around his wrist. “Remain in the dirt, where you belong.”

He turns on his heel and vanishes within his palace with a disdainful flick of his sleeves.

He never once pauses to notice that the Jin gold gilding his robes matches the color of Ze Xian’s scales exactly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ze Xian is a desert kingsnake, and she looks something like this: https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/14836195/fullscreen


End file.
